This invention relates generally to bicycles and more specifically to bicycles that include dual drive mechanisms that enable the rider to selectively apply driving power to the rear wheel by way of conventional foot pedals and to the front wheel by way of hand pedals.
The prior art is replete with dual drive bicycles. Exemplary of such bicycles are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,193,305, 4,147,370, 4,685,692, and 4,773,662. These prior art patents variously describe bicycles that, in addition to the conventional foot pedal rear wheel drive mechanism, include either hand crank or reciprocating 1ever mechanisms for driving the front wheel of those bicycles. All of the known dual drive bicycles suffer a major disadvantage in that the cranking or pedalling action of the riders arms causes a twisting motion to be transferred to the front wheel of the bicycle. This twisting motion introduces a considerable degree of instability that makes controlling the bicycle quite difficult. This deficiency probably explains why these prior art dual drive bicycles have never gained acceptance by bicycling enthusiasts.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a dual drive bicycle in which use of the front wheel drive mechanism does not introduce a force that acts to create instability of the bicycle.
This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention by providing a stabilizer bar attached to a hand crank mechanism frame, the stabilizer bar including a chest saddle against which the rider positions the chest area of his upper body during operation of the front wheel hand crank mechanism. The force applied by the rider's upper body against the chest saddle acts to maintain forward alignment of the front wheel of the bicycle to thereby greatly improve the stability of the bicycle. In addition, the stabilizer bar and chest saddle combination provides a resistance against which the rider works while operating the front wheel hand crank mechanism.